


Rivalry Repeats Itself

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergence, Community: rarepair_shorts, F/F, HP: EWE, Post-War, wishlists event
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-13
Updated: 2008-04-13
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7410292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A job interview brings an unlikely reunion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rivalry Repeats Itself

**Author's Note:**

> **Pairing:** Ginny Weasley/Cho Chang (mention of past Harry/Ginny and past Harry/Cho)  
>  **Warnings:** AU-ish.  
>  **Disclaimer:** The Potterverse is JKR’s, not mine. 
> 
> Written for peskywhistpaw as part of the 2008 Spring Wishlists Event, her prompt was: 'ginny/cho - truce.'

With a small, nervous smile on her face, Ginny climbs the stairs.

Today marks the day of the final, deciding interview. It’ll be either herself or some other girl who’ll be joining the Holyhead Harpies as Seeker next season.

Ginny is fairly confident about her own abilities. She’s lightning fast on a broom and her reflexes have never been better, but of course she hasn’t met the competition yet. She doesn’t even have the slightest clue who it might be.

She takes a deep breath before she turns the doorknob and steps into the waiting room. Her jaw drops when she recognises the person who’s already sitting there.

Cho Chang.

It would seem fate still possesses a twisted sense of humour.

The former Ravenclaw looks up from the magazine she’s reading—it’s dedicated to snooker, of all things—and appears to be just as shocked as Ginny. “Weasley?” she says, eyes wide.

“Chang,” comes the flat response as Ginny takes a seat on the other side of the room. _Yes, definitely twisted_ , she decides. Once upon a not-so-long ago they were rivals for Harry Potter’s affections and now they’re chasing after the same job. How bloody typical.

“Life’s a funny thing, isn’t it?” Cho remarks, clearly thinking something along the same lines.

Ginny shrugs. She doesn’t feel like getting into a conversation, not here and least of all with that… _person_. They never got along before, and there really isn’t any reason why they ought to do so now, is there?

Cho isn’t as easily dissuaded, however. “How’s Harry?” she asks in a surprisingly neutral tone.

“Don’t know,” Ginny replies with a small shrug. It’s true enough. She hasn’t spoken to him in over a year. They agreed to remain friends and stay in touch after their break-up, but more often than not, that’s the sort of plan that tends to work better in theory than it does in practice.

“How do you mean?” Cho asks, and Ginny realises belatedly that she’d have been better off keeping her mouth shut. Does she really want to discuss this again?

Definitely not. Not when people are finally starting to treat her like she’s her own person, not Harry Potter’s ex-girlfriend.

Still, the words are out of her mouth before she realises it: “We’re not together anymore.”

Cho puts the magazine back on the table and gives Ginny her full attention. “You’re not?”

Ginny sighs. “We drifted apart, discovered we both wanted different things from life. I guess that’s the sort of thing that sometimes happens as you grow older and grow up.” She gives Cho a pointed look and just for good measure adds in a tone that’s a little more cutting than strictly necessary, “It wasn’t some kind of dramatic event with lots of heartbreak, intrigue and what have you, so if you were hoping for a juicy story to sink your teeth into, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you.”

“I wasn’t looking for anything,” Cho replies simply, sounding quite sincere. “I was just curious. I don’t talk to many people from our Hogwarts’ days anymore. I spent the majority of the past two years training and travelling.”

Ginny doesn’t quite know what to say to that, so she settles for: “Oh. Right.”

The room is silent for a few awkward minutes, until Cho speaks again. “You know, Weasley, regardless of who gets this job, maybe you and me should call a truce or something. I don’t like to—“ She hesitates. “Well, what I mean to say is: I don’t much fancy the idea of being on bad terms with people over stuff that happened ages ago. My last years at Hogwarts weren’t the best anyway, after Cedric—I mean, I realise full well now that I did some stupid things back then.” She smiles. “And since neither of us is infatuated with Harry Potter anymore either...”

At that, Ginny can’t help but crack a smile, too. “You neither, huh?”

“Hardly. I haven’t been interested in blokes for quite a while, you know.”

“Oh.”

“Men can be pretty brutish and clueless, especially in our field of work.”

“So you’ve switched to girls, then?” Ginny half-jokes, not even sure where that came from all of a sudden. Maybe it’s a consequence of pre-interview nerves mixed with the oddness of the situation.

Cho just nods.

“Oh.” Ginny blinks. She never really noticed before how beautiful Cho is. Well she has, of course, but in an entirely different sense. Back at Hogwarts, Ginny always felt like the ugly little duckling while Cho was the elegant, exotic swan. Ginny was neither willing nor able to appreciate Cho’s good looks back then.

Now, however…

Cho stands up and swiftly walks over to where Ginny is seated. “So, what do you say? Truce?”

“Er- yeah, sure.” Ginny also moves to stand. She wipes her right hand on her robes—It’s definitely something other than pre-interview jitters that made it so clammy, she thinks—and shakes the hand Cho offers her.

Cho smiles, a genuine smile, and clearly wants to say more, but before she can, someone else enters the waiting room; a secretary.

“Miss Chang?”

“Yes,” Cho says, releasing Ginny’s hand.

“This way, please.”

Cho shows no signs of wanting to head into the interview room just yet. Instead, she keeps her gaze locked on Ginny and says, “Listen, Weasley, how about we go out and have a drink when we’re done here? You know, catch up properly?”

“All right,” Ginny replies. “On one condition.”

Cho frowns. “What’s that?”

“Whoever gets the job, pays.”

Cho grins. “All right. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Ginny sits back down and can’t stop a huge, goofy smile from spreading across her face. Yes, fate does have a twisted sense of humour, but maybe that might turn out not to be such a bad thing after all.


End file.
